That celebration continued Monday when Diaz and the football team returned to school.

"I was congratulated by teachers I don't even know and administrators I've never seen before," Diaz said. "I had to walk down the hallway with my hand extended because everyone wanted to shake my hand. It was crazy."

Even though the Allen-Dieruff series has been filled with upsets over the years, few expected these Huskies to pull a surprise over the Canaries, who had won two of their previous three games.

Dieruff's defense had been allowing slightly more than 52 points per game coming in, and the Huskies were routed by Lehighton and Pocono Mountain East, the two teams Allen had defeated.

However, a late change of defensive schemes and an inspired effort produced a most improbable result.

"A lot of people didn't believe we could do it," said senior quarterback Quentin Williams, who was named the game's top offensive player. "This was about getting respect. A lot of people thought it was going to be a blowout, but we wanted it more than they did. When it was over, I had mixed emotions … happy because we finally won, but sad because the season was over.""

It would be foolhardy to suggest that one win is going to suddenly turn around a program that has been scuffling for about a decade now.

Yet, there was a sense that while their careers were ending, these long-suffering seniors had given the program a new start.

Don't expect a return to the glory days. They may be gone forever.

However, there's a sense that both Allen and Dieruff can at least get back to a level of competitiveness and respectability.

Kyle Beller, Dieruff's first-year coach, had been insisting all along that things were improving.

But Beller's relentless enthusiasm and perpetual optimism can only go so far without being backed up with a win.

Because Dieruff would have been playing Allen anyway, it's hard to say that this win validated the school district's decision to take these two programs out of the Lehigh Valley Conference and into the Mountain Valley Conference.

However, both teams ended the season with a sense of accomplishment.

"We came in with three things we wanted to do," Beller said. "We wanted to get participation up, and we did, our numbers were up. We wanted to lay the foundation for our systems, and we've done that. And the third thing is we wanted to beat our rival, and we did that.

"Sure, we wanted some more wins, but for the first time all year, we played four quarters against Allen. Now our kids understand what it takes."

The three kids I talked to on Monday in the team's locker room — Williams, Diaz and Eddie Rodriguez — said they expect better things for Dieruff football in the future.

Diaz hopes to go to college, but said he definitely wants to come back at watch the 2013 team play.

Beller said there are 45 to 50 kids in the program who will, hopefully, be returning. He also said that keeping the same coaching staff in place and having a full year to work with the kids will be a plus.

"We have momentum now and I think Allen does as well," Beller said. "We're moving in a positive direction. We're having success with our middle-school kids and the East Side Youth Center program. Good kids are coming up, but now the key is to make sure we're not picked apart and the Allentown kids stay in Allentown."

LAST PREVIOUS WIN

When: 53-0 over Allen on Nov. 1, 2008

Days between wins: 1,461

Games in between wins: 38

Outscored since the last win: 1,796 to 309

Perspective: The Huskies' last previous win came one day after the Phillies' parade through Philly after winning the World Series and three days before Barack Obama defeated John McCain for his first term as president. The average price for a gallon of unleaded gas was $2.295.